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With the boys asleep in bed, the house was finally quiet. The silence was both a relief and a reminder that she was on her own.
This should be their time to cuddle on the sofa with glasses of wine, debriefing and laughing about their frenetic day with their busy boys. Instead, she and her glass of red were alone, with only Nellie for company.
She knew it was better this way, for all of them, but that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt.
She didn’t mourn what was, not really. She only grieved what could have, what should have, been.